We expect the Chinese government to be less than forthcoming.
But, the U.S. government is being a little shady too!
According to a new report, the death of a U.S. volleyball coach's father-in-law wasn't the only American death at the Beijing games.
A woman from Chicago died first.
Twenty-five-year old Ann DeWaters was killed in Beijing on August 4 in an incident that went unannounced and is still 'officially' unexplained by both U.S. and Chinese authorities and the American relief organization she was working for.
DeWaters was working at the Olympics through a Florida human services organization that deployed 160 volunteers to the China games.
The organization's director would not reveal how DeWaters died, calling it "an unfortunate incident."
In D.C., state department officials refused to say what killed her. American diplomats in Beijing said it was an apparent accident.
Illinois congressman Don Manzullo is the only official who has shed some light on the death.
DeWaters worked for him as an intern in 2006. A Manzullo spokesman revealed, she was, "walking down a Beijing street returning to her hotel . . . when she fell through an open manhole and hit her head."
Manhole cover thefts in China are a deadly public safety problem; 24,000 covers were stolen from Beijing streets in 2004, according to official news agency reports.
Most were sold to scrap metal dealers trying to meet increased demand during the Olympic building boom.
This summer, Chinese officials ordered crews to begin bolting down the city's 840,000 sewer covers to prevent thievery and stop people from falling in and dying. It wasn't soon enough for DeWaters.
And, get this…
On one blog, one Olympic volunteer last week posted details of what happened to DeWaters. Within a few hours, it was replaced with a much more 'benign statement' that the volunteer's father says was written by someone else, possibly an embarrassed Chinese government official. Now, even that posting has been taken down.
If this is all true, it seems irresponsible for the U.S. and Chinese governments to not have spoken out truthfully about it.
Plus, do they really think the truth wouldn't come out???!
Makes both governments look like such big assholes!
Posts
